New Year's Day
by nila.nithila
Summary: It was the thirty first of December. Christmas was over, and the regulars hadn't met in eight months. But miracles did happen.


**This is Nithila again. This was originally supposed to be for Ryoma's birthday, but I altered the plot a bit and made it for New Year's Day. I know it's a bit early, but still. Happy New Year in advance, everyone!**

**I hope you enjoy the story!**

* * *

Ryoma lay flat on his back in the snow, arms spread out, staring blankly at the sky. His hair was drenched, as were his shoes, but his jacket protected him from most of the snow. Random passersby stared at him incredulously, wondering if there was something wrong with him. One kid had even asked if he was stuck in the snow. Ryoma couldn't bring himself to care.

Now that he thought about it, he was cold. Melted snow was slowly seeping through his jacket, chilling his bones. He briefly wondered if he might get frozen into place. Maybe he really _would _get stuck in the snow. How fun that would be.

Ryoma snorted.

Eight months ago, when the (former) third years were graduating high school, all the regulars had come to this very spot for a picnic. Even Taka had joined them, despite having quit tennis after middle school.

It was the last time Ryoma had seen all the (former) regulars in one place.

Of course, everyone had made all kinds of fancy promises. About how, even though they were splitting up, the nine of them would always be the best of friends. Seigaku would never be forgotten. They'd try to meet once every two months, and, as always, they'd have a reunion on Christmas. Ryoma couldn't decide which promise was the most laughable.

It was the thirty first of December. Christmas was over. And the regulars hadn't met in eight months.

He couldn't blame them, though. Tezuka was in Germany. Fuji was in London. Oishi and Kikumaru were somewhere in the other side of Japan. Inui…well, he wasn't quite sure where Inui was. In fact, Taka was the only one who had stayed in Tokyo.

But, still. He'd assumed that they'd all be home for the Christmas holidays. Apparently, he was wrong.

Ryoma sighed quietly. His breath misted over, and he watched it diffuse without any amusement whatsoever.

For the past six years, the (former) regulars had always celebrated Christmas, and Ryoma's birthday, together at Kawamura's restaurant. Occasionally, someone would be unable to turn up, but it was rare.

This year, however, no one had even _planned _to meet. Everyone had known it would be impossible, so no one bothered talking about it.

But then again, the regulars barely spoke to each other anymore. It was hard to stay in touch when everyone was at different corners of the planet. Ryoma, Momoshiro, and Kaidoh were still on the same tennis team, so there was no problem there. Taka visited them from time to time. The golden pair was still together as well, and Oishi and Tezuka called each other often. But apart from that, the regulars only contacted each other through email, and the occasional phone call.

Ryoma didn't like what had become of them, but he couldn't say it surprised him. All the promises they'd made to each other…they were childish, after all.

The next year, Momo and Kaidoh would be gone, too. Perhaps he should just go back to America.

Slowly, his eyes drifted closed, and he tried to empty his mind. It was no good thinking about all of that now. The Nationals were coming up, and the team wasn't ready. Kaidoh was working on a new training schedule with Ryuuzaki sensei's help, but Ryoma had a feeling that it wouldn't be enough. Their doubles teams simply didn't _have _any coordination. They could manage singles somehow, but even then, there would be-

"Echizen?"

Ryoma's eyes snapped open. A lean figure stood over him, blocking the light. The sun was behind him, so Ryoma couldn't see his face, but Ryoma would recognize that voice anywhere.

"Echizen..?"

The voice was soft and gentle, tinkling with amusement. Ryoma hadn't heard it in seven months.

But it was impossible. He couldn't be here _now. _

"Echizen…are you alright?" The voice seemed worried, but Ryoma wasn't fooled. The boy was definitely trying to suppress his laughter, which made sense, because Ryoma _was _in a rather strange position.

But still, Ryoma didn't speak. He wondered if the cold actually _had _frozen him.

The older boy leaned down, and Ryoma finally saw his face. His brain finally processed what he was seeing.

For some reason or the other, Fuji Syuusuke was back in Japan.

* * *

Fuji held out a hand, and Ryoma took it, pulling himself up. Only then did he realize just how wet he really was. He shook his head slightly, hoping it would dry his hair a bit. His bangs slapped him in the face, and he resigned himself to his cold fate.

Fuji stood towering over him (which irritated Ryoma, he couldn't _still _be that short), his eyes crinkled in amusement. Ryoma stared up at him. He'd met all of the other regulars at some point or the other in the past year, but he'd never seen Fuji. The two had only been in contact through email, and their messages were usually only a few lines long at the most. Not even Tezuka or Kikumaru had seen Fuji after graduation.

And yet, here he was, smiling like the world was going to end, and it was all part of his plan.

"It's been a long time, ne?" Fuji said brightly.

"Ah…" Ryoma blinked slowly. "I thought you were still in London."

"Well, I came back for the New Year. I'll only be in Japan for three days."

"Ah."

Fuji had grown taller. His hair was longer, which made him look more feminine than he did before, and his eyes seemed narrower. But his smile was still the same.

Speaking of his smile…Ryoma quickly adjusted all his mental barriers. It looked like Fuji was up to something.

Fuji seemed to be sizing him up as well, because a moment later, he spoke up. "You've grown, Echizen." His eyes glinted mischievously, and he tapped Ryoma on the head once. "But you're still too short for a sixteen year old."

Ryoma scowled and glared at the older boy for all he was worth. Fuji laughed and held his hands up in surrender.

"Anyway," Fuji continued, "I have a few errands to run. Do you mind accompanying me?" He paused. "We haven't spoken in quite a while."

Ryoma looked at himself warily. He was still wet. He was still cold. But he assumed he wasn't wet enough to catch a cold. Besides, he'd dry off soon enough.

He turned back to the older boy and shrugged. "I don't mind."

Fuji smiled at him. "That's good."

As they walked along the sidewalk, Fuji carried a light conversation. Ryoma didn't say much. He found it difficult to talk to someone you hadn't seen in months. Fuji, however, didn't seem to feel that way.

"So, how is the tennis club coming along?"

Ryoma snorted. "Not very good."

"Oh?" Fuji raised an eyebrow. "I thought you placed third in the Kantou tournament?"

Ryoma hesitated. "It was hard. We barely won against Fudoumine." He shook his head slightly. "I don't think the team is ready for the Nationals, Fuji-senpai. Both of our doubles teams are hopeless."

Fuji frowned disappointedly. "I see…perhaps you could ask Inui to help…_motivate _them…"

"Inui-senpai won't tell anyone where he is."

"Really?"

"Ah."

"Saa…" Fuji trailed off. "Momoshiro is captain?"

"Yeah."

"How are he and Kaidoh getting along?"

Ryoma shrugged. "Like they always did, I guess. They spend all of practice shouting at each other and scaring the freshmen away."

Fuji laughed softly. "Typical."

Ryoma smirked.

They reached the supermarket. Fuji pushed the glass door open, and the two of them stepped inside. The temperature dropped suddenly, and Ryoma shivered, cursing the idiot who decided to turn the air conditioner on in the winter.

Fuji seemed to have realized the same thing, because his eyebrow twitched slightly. He roamed through the aisles aimlessly, picking up boxes and cans at random. Ryoma hung behind him, rubbing his hands together in an effort to warm himself up.

"What's London like?" he finally asked.

Fuji turned towards him, his eyes sparkling. "It's a lovely place, Echizen. More beautiful than I had imagined. The university is amazing as well." He shook his head slightly. "I'd expected things to be difficult in a foreign country, but I've been managing rather well. And I've made quite a few friends…"

He went on to explain what happened in his classes, what the campus looked like, how the dormitories looked, and he finally started talking about his friends. Apparently there was a boy as hyper as Kikumaru, and a girl who worried over everyone just like Oishi did. There was also someone as kind and sweet as Taka, and someone as loud mouthed as Momoshiro. And Fuji's roommate resembled Tezuka in more than one way. Fuji spoke about them all with genuine warmth in his voice, and he laughed as he recounted the fun they'd all had together.

Finally, Fuji paid for the groceries, and the two left the store.

As Fuji talked on, Ryoma turned his head away to hide his expression. His eyebrows furrowed slightly.

_Was it really that easy to forget Seigaku?_

It wasn't only Fuji. Kikumaru told him similar stories when he came to visit, as did Oishi. Everyone had moved on, made new friends…why was he the only one still thinking about the past?

He was so absorbed in his thoughts, he didn't notice that Fuji had stopped talking and was studying him intently.

"I'm sorry, Echizen," he said lightly. He smiled at the younger boy apologetically. "That was rather insensitive of me."

Ryoma shook his head absently. Fuji frowned. Just then, his phone beeped, and he pulled it out of his pocket.

As he read the message, his frown disappeared, and was replaced by a genuine smile.

He turned towards Ryoma. "Echizen, would you accompany me to the restaurant in the next street? My parents want me to buy lunch."

Ryoma nodded, confused.

Why was Fuji so happy about buying lunch?

* * *

As the two made their way to the restaurant, Fuji hummed random tunes happily, all attempts at conversation forgotten, and Ryoma walked slightly behind him, eyeing the tensai warily.

He had come up with multiple theories as to why Fuji was excited about buying lunch, each theory more frightening than the last. His senior could be trying to poison his family. Or he might be thinking of mixing wasabi in their food. Or maybe…he knew were Inui was and had access to his juices?

Ryoma gulped. Now _that _was a frightening thought.

At last, they reached the restaurant. Fuji pushed the door open. Ryoma opened his mouth to say that he'd wait for him outside, but he was interrupted when a large, vaguely humanoid object came bounding outside and glomped him, cutting off his air supply.

"_OCHIBIIIII!"_

Had Ryoma not been suffocating, he would have gone into shock.

"Ki…Kikumaru-senpai!?" he tried to say. It came out more like a high pitched squeak.

Kikumaru, on the other hand, had burst into tears, making Ryoma's hair damper than it was before. "Waah! Ochibi, I missed you so much! I missed your sixteenth birthday, nya! I really, really wanted to come, but our stupid head master wanted us to work on our projects instead! But he couldn't make us stay for New Year's day!" Almost immediately, his tears disappeared, and he grinned happily. "But still…" Kikumaru paused, and released Ryoma, letting him breathe again. "Still, I missed Ochibi's sixteenth birthday! Wait…you're _sixteen years old? _You're almost as old as me, nya!"Kikumaru grinned like he'd made the discovery of the century.

Ryoma wondered how his senpai had been allowed to graduate with a brain like that, but he smiled up at him anyway. "It's good to see you, senpai." And he meant it.

Kikumaru tried to glomp him again, and Ryoma quickly ducked behind Fuji, who wasn't surprised to see Kikumaru at all. And, judging by how little attention Kikumaru paid to Fuji, the two had already met.

"Ah, of course! You still have to see the others!" Kikumaru pushed the two of them inside hurriedly.

Ryoma's brain stopped working for a moment. _Others…?_

Once he entered, he saw the 'others' Kikumaru was talking about, and his heart rose up to his throat.

Six people were huddled around a table in the corner of the room. Momo noticed them first, and he shouted their names loudly, grinning like a lunatic. Kaidoh hissed at him to be more quiet, and the two started yelling at each other. Oishi tried to calm them down, and Taka grinned sheepishly and attempted to help him. Tezuka sat straight up in his chair, arms crossed, eyes flashing, like he was ready to order everyone in the restaurant to run two hundred laps. Inui, as always, was muttering under his breath and writing in his notebook.

They were all there. All nine regulars.

After eight months.

As the three of them approached, everyone started talking at once.

"Ah, Echizen, it's good to see you!"

"Fuji-senpai?! You're in _Japan?"_

"Ah…Echizen, it appears you haven't been drinking as much milk as I told you to."

"Echizen. Fuji."

"Fshh….Fuji-senpai…"

"Echizen, Fuji! You both took so long!"

Kikumaru grinned at Ryoma. "It was a surprise, nya! The third years planned it! We wanted to surprise the three of you!"

Ryoma couldn't help it. He looked around at all the familiar faces that he'd missed so much, and he grinned. "Mada mada dane, senpai-tachi!"

* * *

He didn't know how long they stayed there, just talking and playing around. They mostly talked about tennis, and the third years told them about their universities and new friends. Momo and Kaidoh bickered as usual, Kikumaru acted hyper, and Fuji smiled like he was planning to take over the world with a flick of his wrist (Ryoma kept his distance from him). Inui told them about what had become of their former opponents, who had also graduated. Before they knew it, it was ten o'clock.

They stayed until midnight, when the restaurant workers chased them out. As the clock struck twelve, fireworks exploded everywhere, and Kikumaru shouted out his New Year wishes at the top of his voice, drowning out everyone else's voices. Momo clapped him in the shoulder, grinning widely, and Ryoma smiled back at him. Inui recited a list of statistics as to what would happen in the following year. Tezuka told everyone that they shouldn't let their guards down. And Fuji…Fuji pulled out nine tubes of wasabi and gifted one to each person.

As Ryoma looked around at his friends, who hadn't changed at all since the last time he'd seen them, he decided that it really didn't matter if he only saw them once a year.

He looked up at the night sky, eyes shining, hair no longer damp.

No one could forget Seigaku after all.

* * *

**How was it? I'm not too proud of it, but it was fun to write.**

**Please review!  
**


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